Bush and the neoconservatives that he put in charge of the Defense Department now want to have permanent military bases in Iraq. It is obvious the Iraqis do not want our soldiers in Iraq, so why are we planning to have them there permanently?

I would argue that this has been their plan ever since the 2000 election. Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz are members of the “Project for the New American Century.” PNAC is a non-profit group, founded in 1997, that has been advocating the advancement of American prosperity and ideals. It asks the question, “Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests?”

The bases in Iraq also fit in with the Bush-Saudi connection. I cannot quite fathom how the Bush family could be involved with a family like the House of Saud. The Saudis have been funding terrorism all over the world and promoting hatred of the United States, but they are still the Bush family’s best friends. The first President Bush promised we would remove our troops when the first Gulf War was over, but they are still there. The presence of our troops is what first led Osama bin Laden to go after the Saudi ruling family and has been a growing problem in the “kingdom” for quite a while.

George Bush has always been cleaning up after his father, so the plan will be to move all of our troops out of Saudi Arabia and into Iraq permanently (plus, of course, many of the troops already in Iraq). Get used to the almost daily killing and maiming of our young people in the military to bring about the Bush and Cheney vision of a “New American Century.”

Ted Peterson

Alumnus

Ames